Gregory James Aziz – The Man Who Transformed National Steel Car

There’s no doubt that Canada would be a much greater country if it had more people like Gregory James Aziz. The National Steel Car CEO has been responsible for a lot of good things, including the organization and funding of Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.

Greg Aziz Joins Family Business

Gregory James Aziz was born on April 30, 1949. He was born in London, Ontario (not the United Kingdom.) He liked Ontario, so he decided to enroll on Ridley College, where he majored in the field of economics.

Gregory J Aziz didn’t search for the right job upon graduation. Instead, he joined a family food business, the Affiliated Foods, back in 1971. The company did very well during his time, importing and exporting food globally.

Specifically, they would import wholesale food from Europe as well as from two Americas (Central and South), and then distribute the fresh food in the US and Eastern Canada.

Obtaining National Steel Car

After he acquired plenty of experience in Affiliated Foods, Greg James Aziz decided to create something on his own. He started working for several investment banks in New York, up until 1994, when he finally worked out a deal with Dofasco, from whom he purchased National Steel Car company.

Greg had a clear vision: he wanted to transform the National Steel Car and turn it into one of the world’s largest railroad freight car manufacturer.

Turning A Dream Into Reality

The first thing that Greg Aziz did was figuring out the company’s biggest strengths. He soon realized that National Steel Car’s most significant advantage was dominant engineering capabilities. Greg paired these capabilities with strong team building.

He brought a lot of capital and investors, and significantly expanded the company, turning it into a global player. When Greg purchased National Steel Car (in 1994), the company was producing 3500 cars yearly. View More Information Here.

Five years later, the company was producing 12,000 cars annually. Most importantly, during that period the company increased its workforce substantially, going from 600 to 3000 employees.

National Steel Car Today

National Steel Car company grows with each new day. They build thousands of railroad freight car yearly but also investing in new technologies and innovation. Aside from being awarded consistently with TTX SECO highest quality award, it is the only company in North America that has been ISO 9001:2008 certification; they have kept the accreditation for more than 18 years now.

The company is also an active participant in Hamilton society, sponsoring cultural events and various charitable organizations, such as the Theatre Aquarius and the Salvation Army. He and his wife are also major sponsors of Royal, Canada’s famous agricultural festival.